How NotchUp Checks Loan Rates: Methodology and Disclosure

NotchUp does not lend. As of October 15, 2026 no lender, dealer or marketplace pays NotchUp for placement or referrals: referrals have not launched. Every rate in the NotchUp Loans tables comes from the provider’s own website, carries the date we checked it and is hidden 30 days later unless it is checked again.

This page is the methodology for those tables. It explains:

• how each row is verified
• when it expires
• how the 35% filter and the ordering work
• what the Bank of Canada figures measure

NotchUp Loans covers BC, Alberta and Ontario only. Quebec is excluded.

On this page 11 sections

1. Does NotchUp get paid by lenders?
2. How is each rate row verified?
3. When does a published rate expire?
4. How does the 35% filter work?
5. How are the table rows ordered?
6. What do the Bank of Canada figures measure?
7. What would change if referrals launch?
8. How do you report an error?
9. Who reviews these pages?
10. Where do you complain about a lender or dealer?
11. FAQ

Does NotchUp get paid by lenders?

No: as of October 15, 2026, NotchUp has no paid placement, affiliate or referral agreement with any car lender, dealer or loan marketplace. So no provider’s position, wording or inclusion in our tables is paid for, and nothing on these pages can get anyone approved.

NotchUp’s business is a separate product, a wage advance service that pays out wages a person has already earned for a flat fee. That service is not:

• a car loan
• a down payment loan
• a credit repair tool

It is not promoted inside the loan tables.

NotchUp may join affiliate or referral programs in future. If it does, every program will be listed on this page by name before it goes live, with the date it started.

How is each rate row verified?

A NotchUp editor reads each provider’s own website and records only what it states, with the date, and our panel of 23 car loan providers was checked October 15, 2026. We never copy a provider’s rate from a comparison site or news article, because copied rates often disagree with each other and with the lender.

1. Open the provider’s own page that states its rates or terms, and save its exact address as the row’s source link.
2. Record only what that page says: the APR floor and ceiling, the term, which of BC, Alberta and Ontario it serves, and how to apply. A value the page does not state stays blank and shows as “Not published”; we never estimate one.
3. Copy a short verbatim quote, under 15 words, that shows the rate, or shows that no rate is published.
4. Label rates that are not car loan rates. If a provider publishes only a general personal loan rate, the row says “Personal loan rates; no auto-specific rate published”.
5. Print the verification date in the row and set an expiry date 30 days later, or earlier if a promotion ends sooner.
6. Grade confidence internally: high when the rate and terms were read word for word, medium when the page was partial or ambiguous, low when the provider’s own page could not be loaded.

Market-wide ranges by credit tier, such as Finder Canada’s or Loans Canada’s, are never placed in a provider row. They appear in the text, cited to the publisher with its date. A “from” rate is the floor of what a provider advertises, not the rate you will be offered.

When does a published rate expire?

A rate expires 30 days after the editor’s check, or sooner if the provider’s promotion ends first; every row checked on October 15, 2026 expires on November 14, 2026. After that date the row stays in the table, but its rate is replaced with “Awaiting re-verification” until someone checks the provider’s page again.

We keep the row rather than delete it so that a provider does not vanish from a table just because its check is overdue. A new check updates the rate, the quote and the printed date together.

How does the 35% filter work?

No NotchUp table can show an APR above 35%, the criminal interest rate since January 1, 2025 (Criminal Code, s. 347). The rule is applied twice: editors never record a rate above 35%, and the page code removes any APR above 35% from a row before it is displayed.

• If a provider publishes a ceiling above 35%, the ceiling is left out and the row is flagged for review as stale or non-compliant.
• A ceiling of exactly 35% can appear, because the criminal rate is an APR that exceeds 35%.
• If a recorded ceiling is lower than the recorded floor, the ceiling is dropped as an error.
• Provincial payday loans are priced in dollars, up to $14 per $100, and never appear in the APR tables.

How are the table rows ordered?

Rows are sorted by type of provider, in a fixed sequence, and then by provider name; no rate, review score or payment affects the order. The sequence is:

1. through a dealer
2. apply directly
3. online car retailer
4. loan marketplace
5. bank
6. credit union

A few pages show a hand-picked set instead, such as the three companies in our Canada Drives vs CarsFast vs Clutch comparison. There the editor sets the order for relevance to that page. If paid placements ever launch, a paid row would carry a “Sponsored” label and would not move unlabelled rows.

What do the Bank of Canada figures measure?

The Bank of Canada figures are averages of what chartered banks charged, across all credit tiers, from the Bank’s public Valet data service. The headline auto loan series, V122667805, stood at 6.66% (July 2026, Bank of Canada), and the figures exclude finance companies and credit unions. Monthly series arrive two to three months late.

The site fetches these series from Valet once a day. If a fetch fails, the last good values stay on the page. Every figure is printed with its reference month or date, never as “today’s rate”.

The rate tracker’s panel tiles count only car loan specific rates published by dealer-channel and direct lenders. A marketplace quoting its partners’ range is left out.

Our monthly car loan rate tracker puts the bank average next to published non-prime floors, and our bad credit car loan guide shows the full provider table.

What would change if referrals launch?

Only the way you can choose to contact a provider would change, and no referral program exists as of October 15, 2026. If one launches, the tables, their order and the rules on this page would stay the same, with six safeguards:

• Every partner would be named on this page and on the form itself before you share any information with them.
• Sharing your details with a partner would need its own consent box, unticked by default, separate from any box about NotchUp emails or marketing.
• The form would say whether the partner runs a credit check before you submit anything.
• No borrower would ever pay NotchUp a fee for a referral, an application or a comparison.
• Any row a provider pays for would carry a “Sponsored” label, and payment would not change the order of unlabelled rows.
• Referral forms would not be offered to residents of Quebec.

How do you report an error?

Email hello@NotchUp.app with the page address, what looks wrong and a link to the source if you have one. Providers can send a corrected rate to the same address, and we update the row only after checking the provider’s own public page. We change the verification date when we do.

Who reviews these pages?

Every page in NotchUp Loans is written by the NotchUp Editorial Team and reviewed before publication by India Varga, Operations and Content Specialist. The review checks each figure against its primary source (law, regulator, government or the provider’s own page) and that every rate shows its date. It also removes any claim we could not verify.

No lender, dealer or advertiser reviews or approves our content, and none would if referrals launch. The date in each page’s byline is the last day its facts were checked.

Where do you complain about a lender or dealer?

Raise it with the business first, then go to the regulator that matches who you dealt with. That is the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) for banks, the provincial consumer protection office for payday and other finance companies, and the provincial dealer regulator for dealerships.

• Federally regulated banks: the FCAC complaints page.
• Ontario: Consumer Protection Ontario, and the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC) for car dealers.
• Alberta: Service Alberta’s Consumer Investigations Unit (contact centre 1-877-427-4088), and the Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council (AMVIC) for car dealers.
• British Columbia: Consumer Protection BC, and the Vehicle Sales Authority of BC for car dealers.

For every loan type and its cost, start at the NotchUp Loans guide. If payments on a loan you already have are slipping, read what to do if you can’t pay a loan.

Frequently asked questions

Is NotchUp a car lender?

No, NotchUp does not lend car loans and cannot approve or decline anyone for one. It publishes provider rates checked on each provider’s own page, with the date of each check. As of October 15, 2026 it has no referral partners.

Do lenders pay to appear in NotchUp’s tables?

No. As of October 15, 2026, no provider pays NotchUp for placement. The tables are sorted by type of provider and then by name. If that changes, the program will be named on this page first and any paid row will be labelled “Sponsored”.

How current are the rates on NotchUp?

Every provider rate shows the date we checked it, and a rate more than 30 days past its check is hidden until it is checked again. Bank of Canada figures refresh daily from the Bank’s Valet service, and each carries its reference month or date.

What does the Bank of Canada auto loan rate measure?

It measures the average rate chartered banks charged on new auto loans in a given month, across all credit tiers (Valet series V122667805). It leaves out finance companies and credit unions, where many bad credit loans are made. It arrives two to three months after the month it describes.

Will NotchUp share my information with lenders?

Not today, because NotchUp has no referral partners as of October 15, 2026. If referrals launch, your details would go to a named partner only after you tick a separate consent box for that partner, unticked by default. The form would also say whether the partner runs a credit check.

Why does NotchUp Loans not cover Quebec?

NotchUp Loans covers only BC, Alberta and Ontario. Quebec is excluded because it has its own consumer credit and privacy rules that these pages do not address. Quebec residents should use Quebec government resources instead, and any future referral form would not be offered in Quebec.

Will a NotchUp referral ever cost me money?

No, NotchUp will never charge a borrower a fee for a referral, application or comparison, today or if referrals launch. Be wary of any company that asks for money before you receive a loan. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre treats an upfront fee request as a common sign of a loan scam.

Sources

1. Bank of Canada, Valet API documentation
2. Bank of Canada, Valet series V122667805: average chartered-bank rate on auto loans, funds advanced
3. Bank of Canada, Valet series V122667811: average chartered-bank rate on auto loans, outstanding balances
4. Bank of Canada, Valet: consumer credit interest rates, group A4_RATES_CONSUMER (series V122667804, V122667806 and V122667807)
5. Justice Laws, Criminal Code, section 347: criminal interest rate
6. Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Grant and loan scams (January 16, 2026)
7. Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Complaints (July 15, 2026)
8. Government of Ontario, Filing a consumer complaint
9. Consumer Protection BC, Consumer help
10. Government of Alberta, File a consumer complaint
11. OMVIC, File a complaint
12. AMVIC, Complaint process
13. Vehicle Sales Authority of BC, Make a formal complaint to the VSA